Petition · past parliament

The House of Commons to call a General Election following the EU referendum

Rejected 20 signatures

What the petition asks

The EU referendum result was a small majority in favour of changing the status quo. With the stated resignation of the Prime Minister this means the government will be negotiating significant constitutional change lead by a leader who has no public mandate.
The result has deeply divided the country and historically constitutional change in most countries has required a clear majority. For example, for the House of Commons to call for a General Election requires 2/3rd vote in favour.

If an unelected Prime Minister leads the negotiations on such a slim majority this will lead to a constitutional crisis with no public mandate to enact the result of the referendum.

A general election will allow for a mandated government to respond to the referendum.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

25 Jun 2016 Petition opened for signatures
1 Jul 2016 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 20
Status Rejected
Rejected 1 Jul 2016

Follow this petition

Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.

Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.